The age of the tablet is upon us; it enables distraction at your fingertips wherever you go

“This device is what people make of it,” says Nick Ingelbrecht, research director at Gartner, whose job is to track our digital habits. “TV, game console, people are able to configure it for what they want.” As for gender, in this country men are 30 per cent likelier than women to own an iPad, although Ingelbrecht concedes the intuitive screen technology is a winner with women.